God's Presence Shines Forth Through All Lives Of Love

Whenever Christians live like Jesus, God’s Kingdom breaks into our world.  However, the work of building God’s Kingdom is not limited to the actions of Christians alone.  God remains sovereign and is free to choose to work through each and every person.  Those who may never come to know Christ through the preaching of the Gospel also build up God’s Kingdom by their good moral lives; for St. John proclaims, “Whoever lives in love, lives in God.”  God’s presence shines forth through all lives of love. 

The Church, nevertheless, remains an indispensable part in God’s plan to reconcile all peoples in Christ. The Church is not an “after-thought” in God’s plan, but remains at the very heart of God’s mind for the world’s good.  The Church is that “city set high up on the hill attracting others to it,” or the “lamp, not placed under a basket, but placed on a stand for all to see God’s light.”  All Christians bear the moral responsibility to build up God’s Kingdom here on earth through mercy, love, justice, peace, kindness and dialogue.

Pope Francis is calling the Church to enter into dialogue with all people so that Christ’s truth may be brought into every situation – “it is time to devise a means for building consensus and agreement while seeking the goal of a just, responsible, and inclusive society” (Evangelii Gaudium 239).  The fruits of no dialogue or an unwillingness to dialogue are obvious today – division, vengeance, hatred, lack of respect for human persons, intolerance.  War is the ultimate breakdown of dialogue.  These “bad” fruits are not from God who loves all his children.  God himself is dialogue and communication between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

Dialogue is a mission inspired by God's divine Spirit within each person of good will.  People unwilling to dialogue close themselves off to the visions God plants within our hearts, of any new possibilities and outcomes to solutions, and ultimately to the betterment of a just society. 

Pope Francis reminds governments that they are “to safeguard and promote the common good of society” (E.G. 240).  In the U.S., our individual freedoms tear at the common good. We do whatever we want to do it in spite of others.  The pursuit of our happiness and fortunes can lead us to lose our sense of the common good.  Balancing individual freedom and the common good is difficult.   

Here are some examples, where the common good is sacrificed to individual freedoms, which I observe while driving between Mt. Vernon and Evansville. 1) Drivers deliberately running red lights – not when the light is turning yellow and it’s too late to stop, but 5-10 seconds after the light has turned red.  They ignore the possibility of cars entering the highway.  People simply want their way.  2) People speeding 70 in 55 MPH zones.  (I too am sometimes guilty of this although I try to stay no more than 3 miles above the speed limit, which I have always heard is legit.)  They not only break the law, but they disregard the safety of others sharing the road with them.  Not even the 50 MPH signal at Marr's Elementary deters their lead feet!!!  3) Drivers speeding in the 40 MPH construction zone at U.S. 41 and Lloyd Expressway this past year, disregarding the safety of the workers. 

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.  We recently had the funeral of a parishioner killed by an intoxicated driver.  These are just a few ordinary common examples of how we can easily put our wishes before the common good.